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Maintaining a soft-token private key store in a distributed environment

a technology of distributed environment and soft-token, applied in the direction of digital transmission, unauthorized memory use protection, instruments, etc., can solve the problems of unauthorized access, soft-tokens are vulnerable to security breaches, and the security of soft-tokens is becoming both important and complex

Inactive Publication Date: 2004-05-18
RPX CORP
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

As a result, security concerns are becoming both more important and more complex.
Unfortunately, these same characteristics make soft-tokens vulnerable to security breaches.
Otherwise one is forced to choose between forbidding changes to keys and passwords, on the one hand, and risking unauthorized access after a key or password is updated, on the other.
Forbidding changes makes the distributed environment much less convenient and effective for administrators and other users.
The result(s) of the comparing and / or verifying steps lead either to a refusal to accept the new content or entry of the new content at the update location.

Method used

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  • Maintaining a soft-token private key store in a distributed environment
  • Maintaining a soft-token private key store in a distributed environment
  • Maintaining a soft-token private key store in a distributed environment

Examples

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Embodiment Construction

To further illustrate the invention, another example will now be provided. This example is not the only possible use of the invention, and embodiments not discussed in the example also lie within the scope of the claims.

Assume that administration of the distributed environment is the responsibility of several administrators, that a single administration private-public key pair is used by the administrators in their official duties, and that each administrator has a copy of the private key which is encrypted with a symmetric key known only to that administrator. The goal is for an administrator we shall call "Able" to securely change both the administration private key and the corresponding public key certificate. Because Able does not know the symmetric keys of the other administrators, Able cannot simply give them encrypted copies of the new private key.

To solve this problem, we proceed as follows. First, we temporarily modify the administrative user record 500 of a given administr...

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Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are provided for securely updating private keys, key pairs, passwords, and other confidential information in a distributed environment. A transaction is created including appropriate encrypted soft-token content, and then transmitted to a new location. Comparisons are made to determine whether the new soft-token content should be recognized as authentic and entered at the new location. Updates are accomplished without ever sending the plain text form of a key or a password across the wire between the distributed locations.

Description

The present invention relates to maintaining security information in a distributed environment, and relates more particularly to updating passwords and private keys in a computer network.TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONInternal business networks, global computer networks, loosely- or tightly-coupled groups of networks, devices linked by wireless connections, mobile computers, and other distributed environments are becoming more important than ever to individuals, businesses, government agencies, and other entities. Distributed environments are also becoming more diverse in their geography, data format, hardware configuration, software platform, and other characteristics. As a result, security concerns are becoming both more important and more complex.Keys and passwords protecting those keys are widely used to control access to data and other resources in a distributed environment. Keys are often used for authenticating user requests, for encrypting and decrypting digital docume...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): H04L9/08
CPCH04L9/08H04L9/0891H04L2209/56
Inventor CARTER, STEPHEN R
Owner RPX CORP
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